Free Keyword Density Checker
Check the keyword density of any text, file or live web page — free, with no sign-up. Paste your draft, upload a document, or fetch a URL, and this keyword density checker breaks down every 1-word, 2-word, 3-word and 4-word phrase with its exact count and density percentage. Add your target keywords to get an instant verdict — too low, ideal, high, or stuffing risk — and use the Keyword Prominence panel to confirm your keyword appears where it matters most: the title, headings and first 100 words. When you're ready, export a full CSV report or compare your page against a competitor side by side. Everything you paste is analyzed privately in your browser.
Separate with commas. Each target gets a verdict: Too low · Ideal (0.5–2.5%) · High · Stuffing risk.
Stop words are hidden from the tables only — total word counts and densities always use your full text. The number box sets the minimum occurrences for a phrase to be listed.
How to Use
- 1Add your content — paste text, upload a .txt, .md or .html file, or enter a page URL to fetch and analyze it.
- 2Optionally type your target keywords (up to 5, separated by commas) to get a density verdict for each one.
- 3Press Analyze. Review the stats, the target-keyword verdicts and the Keyword Prominence panel.
- 4Browse the 1-word to 4-word phrase tables, or click any row to highlight every occurrence in your text.
- 5Export the full report as CSV, copy a summary, or compare your page against a competitor URL side by side.
Key Features
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Text, file & URL analysis
Paste a draft, upload a .txt, .md or .html file, or fetch any live page URL — the tool extracts the readable text, title, meta description and headings for you.
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1-word to 4-word phrase breakdown
Every word and phrase up to four words long, with exact counts and true share-of-content density percentages — not just single keywords.
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Target keyword verdicts
Add up to five target keywords and get an instant verdict for each one: too low, ideal, high, or stuffing risk, against a documented healthy range.
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Keyword Prominence panel
Density is only half the story. See whether your keyword appears in the title tag, meta description, H1/H2 headings, image alt text and the first 100 words.
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Side-by-side competitor comparison
Load a competitor's URL and compare densities directly, with a merged phrase table that shows exactly which topics they emphasize more than you.
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CSV export & in-text highlighting
Download a complete CSV report, copy a shareable summary, and click any phrase row to highlight every occurrence inside your text.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is keyword density?
What is a good keyword density?
How is keyword density calculated?
Does keyword density affect Google rankings?
What is keyword stuffing?
Can I check a competitor's keyword density?
Is my text stored or shared?
What is keyword density?
Keyword density is the percentage of a page's total words that a specific keyword or phrase makes up. If your article is 1,000 words long and the phrase “keyword density” appears 12 times, those 24 words account for 2.4% of the content — a density of 2.4%. It is the oldest quick-check in on-page SEO: simple enough to calculate in seconds, and still useful today as a diagnostic for whether a page genuinely covers its topic, or repeats one phrase so often that the writing turns robotic.
This free keyword density checker goes further than a simple percentage. Alongside the classic density tables it checks where your keywords appear (the Keyword Prominence panel), how they are distributed across the beginning, middle and end of the text, and how your numbers compare with a competitor's page — because modern rankings are decided by relevance and placement, not by hitting a magic number.
The keyword density formula
Density % = (occurrences × words in phrase ÷ total words) × 100
Example: a 2-word phrase used 10 times in an 800-word article → (10 × 2 ÷ 800) × 100 = 2.5%
One honest warning: not every keyword density tool uses the same formula. A few tools skip the “× words in phrase” step for multi-word phrases, so their numbers for 2- and 3-word phrases look lower than the classic share-of-content figures shown here (the method used by Small SEO Tools, SEO Review Tools and Duplichecker). Neither is “wrong” — but now you know why two tools can disagree, and why you should compare pages with the same tool.
What is a good keyword density?
| Density | Verdict | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Below 0.5% | Too low | The topic may be under-covered, or covered with so many synonyms that the page never clearly signals what it is about. |
| 0.5% – 2.5% | Ideal | The range most natural, well-edited content lands in. The keyword is clearly present without dominating the writing. |
| 2.5% – 4% | High | Read the text aloud. If sentences start to feel forced or repetitive, trim repeats and let related terms carry some of the weight. |
| Above 4% | Stuffing risk | Almost always unnatural writing. Rewrite before publishing — search engines treat obvious stuffing as a spam signal. |
Short pages need extra care: on a 150-word product description, a keyword used just four times is already 2.7%. Judge density together with total length — and use a word counter to keep an eye on overall content depth.
Does keyword density still matter in 2026?
As a ranking factor by itself: no. Google has repeatedly said there is no ideal density that it rewards, and modern search understands topics, entities and synonyms far beyond exact-match counting. As a diagnostic, though, density is still one of the fastest ways to catch real problems: a landing page whose main keyword barely appears is probably off-topic; a blog post at 5% density is almost certainly stuffed; a competitor comparison often reveals whole subtopics your page never mentions. Think of this keyword density analyzer as a smoke alarm, not a thermostat — it tells you where to look, not what number to chase.
Keyword stuffing: what it looks like
Stuffed (~7% density)
“Our cheap shoes store sells cheap shoes. If you need cheap shoes, our cheap shoes are the cheapest shoes in town, so buy cheap shoes from the best cheap shoes store today.”
Natural (~1.4% density)
“Looking for affordable running shoes? Our store stocks lightweight trainers, trail shoes and everyday sneakers from top brands — with free size exchanges if the fit is not right.”
Both paragraphs are about the same product. The second one ranks better in practice because it covers the topic — fit, types, exchanges — instead of repeating one phrase.
How to improve density without stuffing
- Write the section, then check. Draft naturally first; use this tool at the editing stage to catch extremes in both directions.
- Use synonyms and related terms. If density is high, replace repeats with variations — the AI keyword extractor can suggest the terms your text already leans on.
- Expand thin sections instead of repeating. If density is too low, the fix is usually more substance — examples, data, sub-questions — not more keyword mentions.
- Spread mentions evenly. The distribution bars in the Prominence panel show if your keyword only appears in the introduction and then vanishes.
- Benchmark a ranking competitor. Compare mode shows the phrases top pages emphasize; cover the same ground in your own words.
Placement beats percentage
Where a keyword appears matters more than how often. A phrase in the page title, the H1, an early heading and the first 100 words sends a far stronger topical signal than the same phrase scattered through footers and captions. That is why this tool's Prominence panel checks the title tag, meta description, H1 and H2 headings and image alt text when you analyze a URL — and why you should preview how the result looks in search with the SERP preview tool before publishing. Fetching the URL with our website health checker alongside gives you the technical half of the audit.
Keyword density vs TF-IDF and semantic SEO
TF-IDF weighs a term by how common it is across many documents, which makes it better at spotting distinctive vocabulary; semantic SEO goes further and maps the entities and subtopics a complete page should cover. Density is cruder — and that is its strength. It is transparent, instant, and identical for everyone who runs it, which makes it ideal for quick audits, client reports and before/after checks during a content refresh. Use density for the sanity check, then graduate to topic coverage for the strategy. Clean URLs help too — generate them with the SEO slug generator, and explore the full SEO & marketing tools collection for the rest of your workflow.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Chasing an exact percentage. There is no 1.47% that unlocks page one; ranges and readability win.
- Counting only exact matches. Readers and search engines both treat close variations as the same topic — review the 2- and 3-word tables, not just your target.
- Ignoring stop-word context. Phrases like “how to” are mostly stop words but carry real intent; toggle the stop-word filter off before judging them.
- Optimizing one page against itself. Density means little without a benchmark — always sanity-check against at least one ranking competitor.
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SERP Preview Tool
Preview how your title tags and meta descriptions appear in Google desktop and mobile search results. Avoid truncation with our free SERP simulator.